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Incidence of infectious complications following ultrasound-guided percutaneous musculoskeletal interventions with the use of an uncovered transducer footprint

  • Musculoskeletal
  • Published:
European Radiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objectives

To determine the incidence of infectious complications following ultrasound-guided musculoskeletal interventions performed with a disinfected uncovered ultrasound transducer footprint.

Methods

Electronic medical records of all patients who underwent an ultrasound-guided musculoskeletal procedure (including injection, calcific lavage, or ganglion cyst aspiration) performed by any of the 14 interventional musculoskeletal radiologists at our institution between January 2013 and December 2018 were retrospectively reviewed to identify procedure site infections. Biopsies and joint aspirations were excluded. The procedures were performed using a disinfected uncovered transducer footprint. First, an automated chart review identified cases with (1) positive answers to the nurse’s post-procedure call, (2) an International Classification of Diseases (ICD) diagnostic code related to a musculoskeletal infection, or (3) an antibiotic prescription within 30 days post-procedure. Then, these cases were manually reviewed for evidence of procedure site infection.

Results

In total, 6511 procedures were included. The automated chart review identified 3 procedures (2 patients) in which post-procedural fever was reported during the nurse’s post-procedure call, 33 procedures (28 patients) with an ICD code for a musculoskeletal infection, and 220 procedures (216 patients) with an antibiotic prescription within 30 post-procedural days. The manual chart review of these patients revealed no cases of confirmed infection and 1 case (0.015%) of possible site infection.

Conclusions

The incidence of infectious complications after an ultrasound-guided musculoskeletal procedure performed with an uncovered transducer footprint is extremely low. This information allows radiologists to counsel their patients more precisely when obtaining informed consent.

Key Points

• Infectious complications after ultrasound-guided musculoskeletal procedures performed with a disinfected uncovered transducer footprint are extremely rare.

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Abbreviations

ICD:

International Classification of Diseases

IMG:

Imaging

US:

Ultrasound

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Acknowledgements

The completion of this work was made possible in part thanks to a Association of University Radiologists (AUR) General Electric (GE) Radiology Research Academic Fellowship (GERRAF) Award.

Funding

Dr. Natalia Gorelik’s research work is supported by an AUR GE Radiology Research Academic Fellowship Award.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Natalia Gorelik

    Present address: Department of Diagnostic Radiology, McGill University Health Center, 1001 Decarie Blvd., Montreal, Quebec, H4A 3J1, Canada

  2. Yousef Darwish

    Present address: , New York City, NY, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, NYU Langone Medical Center, 333 E 38th St, 6th Floor, New York, NY, 10016, USA

    Natalia Gorelik, William R. Walter, Christopher J. Burke & Ronald S. Adler

  2. Information Technology Department, NYU Langone Health, 550 First Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, USA

    Yousef Darwish

  3. Division of Infectious Disease, Milford Regional Medical Center, 14 Prospect St, Milford, MA, 01757, USA

    Dost Sarpel

  4. Department of Radiology, London Health Sciences Centre, Victoria Hospital, 800 Commissioners Rd E, C1-609, London, Ontario, N6A 5W9, Canada

    Jaron Chong

Authors
  1. Natalia Gorelik
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  7. Ronald S. Adler
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Natalia Gorelik.

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Guarantor

The scientific guarantor of this publication is Dr. Natalia Gorelik.

Conflict of interest

The authors of this manuscript declare no relationships with any companies whose products or services may be related to the subject matter of the article.

Statistics and biometry

No complex statistical methods were necessary for this paper.

Informed consent

Written informed consent was waived by the Institutional Review Board.

Ethical approval

Institutional Review Board approval was obtained.

Methodology

• retrospective

• observational

• performed at one institution

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Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Affiliation 2 is Natalia Gorelik’s former affiliation.

Affiliation 4 is Yousef Darwish former affiliation.

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Gorelik, N., Darwish, Y., Walter, W.R. et al. Incidence of infectious complications following ultrasound-guided percutaneous musculoskeletal interventions with the use of an uncovered transducer footprint. Eur Radiol 32, 6759–6768 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-022-08849-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-022-08849-6

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